Cache Co-ordinates.

[Jakobs team]

Hello everybody,

This is my first post, I started Geocaching last week and found my first Geocache quite easy to a point within 10 yards using a Magellan 300 and recieving 8 satellites, Brilliant Fun I'm hooked ,So here's my question if I want to set up a cache will my old GPS be adequate for this even though it does not have decimal seconds but does have UTM thanks Jakobs team ( JERSEY ).

[+wildlifewriter]

So here's my question if I want to set up a cache will my old GPS be adequate for this even though it does not have decimal seconds but does have UTM thanks Jakobs team ( JERSEY ).

This is a tricky one...

 

Geocaching uses the "degrees-and-decimal minutes" position format: dd mm.mmm

 

Your 'old' GPS300 seems to display this format, but only to 100th's of a minute: dd mm.mm (Check if this is correct - your version may differ.)

 

If so, a hundredth of a minute of Latitude (in Jersey) is just over sixty feet, and of Longitude: forty feet. BUT... the unit can also display in UTM co-ordinates. (I guess this is the reason for your question.) You should try to establish if the UTM display is more "accurate", in the sense of having a better resolution. You can do this simply by walking around - with the different settings in use - and watch carefully what it is showing.

 

If UTM looks like a better bet, you would need to convert it to dd mm.mmm before submitting your new cache. This can be done using Barry Hunter's co-ordinate conversion page. (Your UTM zone is 30U)

 

Hth,

 

-Wlw

[+Simply Paul]

Hello Jakobs team, and welcome to the wild world of geocaching!

 

I'd recommend finding a few more caches before you pick a nice spot to hide one, and when you do, I suggest the following:

 

If your GPS won't do decimal seconds (not really used for caching anyway) will it give you 1000ths of a minute? That's the standard format for listing caches, on the WGS84 datum. You should be seeing 'N5x xx.xxx W00x xx.xxx' on the screen.

 

If it'll only give you 100ths of a minute, pick quite an 'obvious' location, like a lone tree rather than a tree in the middle of a wood, and give the final figure as a 5. That should get visitors close enough to guess where the cache is

 

Leave the GPS sat near the location for a while, to settle, then take a waypoint. If you're not right on top of the cache, move to the opposite side of it and do the same, so you can average the average the location between the points. More you do this, the better the co-ords should be, but it's always worth saying GPS isn't an exact science. I was setting caches on Friday and was getting very different results at the location just two hours after placing a cache there.

 

Listen to finder feedback to help get better co-ords if it turns out yours are a little off.

 

Oh, and don't forget to have fun

 

SP

[Jakobs team]

Thank you very much for your responses I now understand a lot more than before, as for doing more caches I'm doing one tomorrow and in two weeks time I'm off to Guernsey so I'll do the 3 there.

Jakobs team.

[+harrogate hunters]

Just a note regarding your GPS.... I had an old Magellan 315 which again had only two decimal places......

 

I used the UTM conversion (www.jeeep.com) for over a year setting over 25 caches, and finding 150+

 

It works, but check, re-check, recheck, go home, come back check and you will be fine...

 

If you need any help, contact me... In the end I was getting more accurate results than a modern GPS !

[Jakobs team]

Thankyou for your kind offer HH.

Jakobs team.